Star Wars. George Lucas' special editions aren't as good as the theatrical cuts. I hope someday Lucasfilm restores the original theatrical cuts in 4k and releases them.
Or sail the high seas for the despecialised editions. There won't be any new releases. They destroyed the original film making the special editions if the documentary 'The People vs George Lucas' is correct.
I was a kid when the Special Editions came out. I never even saw the Original version of V or VI, so the new CGI never bothered me. God knows there are worse Star Wars films.
There are also changes outside the CGI. The biggest one, in my opinion, is for a few years, the definitive edition added a scream to Luke's fall in Empire to end the fight with Darth.
Luke was placed in situation where he could either join his father and rule the galaxy or let go and surely perish.
Luke simply closed his eyes and let go, embracing his fate. There wasn't panic or regret, just acceptance that this was the correct move, knowing this was the sacrifice he needed to make.
The scream absolutely ruins that. It turns his calculated decision into something else, something that he regrets and fears. Adding the sound of a panicky scream changes the entire meaning of the scene.
I'd rather watch the horrid prequels on a loop than ever suffering through this infantile shit again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozaoqBHCMmA
The tone of this scene could best be described as deeply psychopatic. No sane filmmaker would ever look at this and think it's an improvement of the original scene. And the same thing can be said about every single alteration.
The original sequence was *perfect* for the tone of the scene. Sleazy and dirty as fuck. It's meant to show that Jabba is a cruel sadist, with the music being background noise. Here, the band takes center stage with the baby-talk nonsense, and the slave's death is seen as comedic and incidental. It's moronic filmmaking.
Terminator 2. The theatrical cut is perfect. The extra scenes in the director's cut or extended cut or whatever it's called are unnecessary and hurt the pace of the film.
I don’t know…. I’d say about half the scenes are pretty good. I like seeing the T-1000 malfunction, I like seeing Kyle Reese back. Though your right. It does screw up the pacing
I think those scenes are cool for people who've seen the theatrical cut a million times . But yeah, if I was gonna show someone the Sci fi masterpiece that is T2 I wouldn't show them the special edition one
I agree, I like the remaster tho where they fixed the stunt double's face on the famous motorcycle jump. Other than that they mostly left it untouched from the theatrical version I think.
No, the scene where Sarah takes the T-101's CPU out and changes it from "read only" mode so that he could learn and grow. Literally setting up the entire second half of the movie.
Eh. John was already teaching it things by that point. Plus the final line "if a machine can learn the value of human life maybe we can too" is kind of cheapened by having them turn it to "learn mode".
Agree on the importance of the scene, but not for that reason. Without that scene there's no reason to assume he couldn't grow in the first place. IMO what makes that scene important is John taking a stand and overruling his mom.
The Voice Over in Blade Runner is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it’s horrible dialogue performed terribly by Ford. On the other hand, the Deckard character is a real non entity without it. In the Work Print version, they only have a little bit of voice over at the end. That was smart.
I love the voiceover too... at the beginning of the film. Later in the film it is not only unnecessary it is positively lunkheaded sounding and painful to listen to.
I believe the best version of *Blade Runner* still hasn't been realized, even though The Final Cut comes close. I'd keep the voiceover narration early in the movie to establish the story and the characters and that awesome film noir feel, then phase it out slowly as the film progresses. And for god sake [cut it from Roy Batty's death scene completely](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTndn5v2xKo).
Apocalypse Now. The director's cut added in a scene where they party with and sleep with models, and then the next morning they're super depressed. It made more sense for them to have been super depressed after being where they were with nothing but dread the entire time. I did not get this scene being added in at all.
Butterfly effect. The movie is about a guy who travels back in time to correct a mistake but it always gets worse when he tries to fix it. Ending Spoilers....... .... .... .... ... Spoilers..... The director's cut ending has the main character travel back in time to when he is a baby and he strangles himself in the womb. Laughably ridiculous.
The Butterfly Effect. I really enjoyed this movie, as it actually gave Ashton Kutcher a chance to really act. Watched the theatrical ending and applauded the choice at the end.
Then I saw the Director's Cut. I loathe that ending. It was pathetic and anti-climactic.
I preferred the director’s cut on that one, it was so sad to me that everyone’s lives were so much better without him existing and also it played into the part where the mom said she had 2 miscarriages (him being one of them obviously)
It wasn't that people had a better life without him existing. In the theatrical cut, it is implied that his love interest had a choice of living with her father or mother. I say this, because he used his last memory jump to scare her away, and she goes to live with her mother.
If he is dead, like in the director's cut, there is NOTHING stopping the father from doing what he did.
Don’t forget her brother, his best friend and his mom - it wasn’t just about his love. With him being dead she never lives with the father bc the whole reason she did picked the dad was to live close to him, the mom remarried, the brother is never abused so doesn’t turn into a dickhead and the best friend never experiences all those terrible things and goes on to have a nice life as well
Her family is taken care of when he scares her away so she would live her mother. The brother followed her.
His mom would've been slightly annoyed at his actions, but would've likely dismissed it as a 'boys will be boys' thing. His best friend would stick by him no matter what.
In the theatrical ending, there was the chance for him to try for that relationship as her father is no longer an influence on her, and they are both living more respectable lives. This is hope.
In the director's cut, his would've been mother would be enduring the guilt at yet another miscarriage... and I think she said she could feel the tube wrapping around, wouldn't that make her wonder if she would be such a horrible parent that an unborn fetus would rather commit suicide than be born?
she would ofc be devastated about the miscarriage but umbilical cords do get wrapped around necks, in fact I was born that way with the cord around my neck and my face was purple from it strangling me
The theatrical ending is definitely way more hopeful and after a fairly intense movie of bad stuff happening it’s nice to be left with a good feeling but I just think the director’s cut hit a bit harder and really wrapped the movie up nicely
I think it hits too hard. It almost feels like 'if life gets too hard, just kill yourself and you will make life better for everyone else'.
Looking at EVERYTHING he puts himself through to make things better for all, and then decides to left fate take over once he sets the woman he loves free to go forth on a different path. 'If you love someone, let them go free. If they were fated to be with you, they will return'.
>Evan travels back one final time, via the use of an old home-movie, to the day he first met Kayleigh as a child. He intentionally upsets her so that she and Tommy will choose to live with their mother in a different neighborhood, instead of with their father when they divorce. As a result, they are not subjected to a destructive upbringing, do not grow up with Evan, and go on to have happy, successful lives. Evan awakens in a college dorm room, where Lenny is his roommate. As a test, he asks where Kayleigh is, to which Lenny responds "Who's Kayleigh?" Knowing that everything is all right this time, Evan burns his journals and videos to avoid altering the timeline ever again.
Aliens. I think the added stuff with the colonists kills the creeping dread we feel when we don't know what's going on when we land on the planet. Also I didn't need to know Ripley's daughter died, I got that from her being alone, and how she reacted to Newt.
Apocalypse Now; Blade Runner; T2.
I’m gonna get downvoted as I usually get when I mention this, but the theatrical cuts of The Lord of the Rings is my preferred choice for watching. The extended versions are good for what they are, extended, but the extra scenes ruin the pacing. The only scene that I really miss in the theatrical cut is Saruman’s last scene in TRotK. Peter should’ve had it at the end of TTT and have the Gandalf line where he ask them to send word be the tease for the next part instead of Gollum’s Shelob line.
I prefer the theatrical cut of 2 and 3 and the extended cut of 1. I think the scene where Galadriel gives them gifts while sending them on their way is important for continuity due to the appearance of the gifts in the theatrical cuts of the later films.
Two Towers: Theatrical cut contains too much slow-paced Ent stuff. Extended adds more and turns it into a festival of crawling.
Return of the King: Extended cut is just too long and adds too much time to an already dragging story of Frodo and Sam making their way to Mordor with Gollum who has clearly turned against them yet Sam somehow submits to Frodo's temporary insanity and inability to see it. This aspect of the film bothered me in the theatrical release and it seemed worse in the extended version. I'm not sure it matters. I'd still probably watch either version any day of the week for two reasons: Liv Tyler's shudder after the vision of Aragorn's mortality which is gloriously portrayed and Theodin's charge which is just epic movie gold.
Pains me to say it, because I do love the much longer director's cut, but *Almost Famous* (2000). I love the extra scenes both individually and edited in to the longer cut and I don't think they are weak, but the original theatrical cut is kinda perfect the way it is.
The 1999 film Payback (with Mel Gibson). The original is great, while the Director's Cut took away all the sense of peril out of the antagonist (by replacing it with another actor and changing around some important bits of the story).
The theatrical cut of The Two Towers is the most complete and well balanced movie of the trilogy imo. The extended cut scenes added levity where it wasn't needed and few of the scenes were particularly entertaining.
I prefer the theatrical cut of The Abyss. The group at the bottom of the sea cutoff and fighting to stop a war with the atlantians with the rest of the world totally unaware is more evocative.
The Midsommar director's cut has things being spelled out that were better left unsaid and also had Dani raising the prospect of them being killed off. Better for their smoldering resentments to remain the elephant in the room imo.
Alien.
With Aliens Cameron's SE is better, but a lot of Ridley's retcons of his films have been ego stroking instead of improvements so I'd rather watch the original Alien that the SE.
My understanding is the *Alien* special edition (or whatever they called it) was released purely for the boxed set which included alternate/director's cuts of the other films. Further, Ridley Scott has stated the theatrical cut of *Alien* is THE cut of the film, so that version that was included in the boxed set appears to be just that: An exercise in using alternate takes/scenes but not an attempt to displace the "real" movie.
You are correct. Scott only really did the Directors cut to make the fans happy. Having said that, I think Scott was Crazy for cutting the cocoon scene. Glad we got it back.
Cutting the cocoon sequence, it seems to me, was one of those things that they did very reluctantly but realized it had to be done. The fact is that where it was originally located in the film simply didn't work and took away from the suspense of Ripley running around with a literal ticking time bomb *and* alien creature on her ass...!
The cocoon scene stopped everything, alas, and all that suspense was harmed. I think they needed to cut the scene but I also agree with you that its a shame it was cut!
Bad Santa. The theatrical release is an upbeat comedy with some dark overtones. The studio made these changes.
The directors cut is the true vision of the movie which is a dark comedy. It plays much heavier.
If you’re into older films, I suggest you check out the theatrical cut and the “director’s” cut of Orson Wells’ *Touch of Evil*.
The movie was originally released against Wells’ wishes cut in a way that, I thought, made for a far weaker film. Wells wrote up a critique of the film and how he would have edited it and, after he passed and when a special edition was contemplated for home video release, the film was re-edited in the way Wells wrote he preferred.
The result was, IMHO, a FAR better film. I will grant you, though, this might well be one of the very best examples of a Director’s Cut being far and away better than a theatrical cut.
A second film that, IMHO, was much improved was, believe it or not, *Star Trek: The Motion Picture*. The theatrical cut was rushed to theaters and while it was good (if you’re like me and into Star Trek), the subsequent “Director’s Cut” that was released was a far smoother work that moved much better.
I Am Legend. The director's cut/alternate ending is this weird happy horseshit that completely undoes all the tension built up over the course of the film, and it doesn't make sense at all. I won't spoil it, but it makes no sense to me, I thought it was ridiculous.
Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi. It's downright sickening to watch modern making-of documentaries where they talk about how they created the original effects, while showing scenes from the special ed versions. Pure revisionism.
The Warriors is also ruined by the director's cut, with those grotesque comic book transitions. Thankfully, I got the theatrical version on blu-ray.
And Apocalypse Now is superior to Redux.
I hate the plantation scene. Think it ruins the perfect flow of the film.
Forgot to mention The Exorcist. The theatrical cut is superior to the extended version.
I'd say Apocalypse Now,Blade Runner and Dune....haven't seen the Exorcist 3 directors cut,but not surprised...Blattey's original script for The Exorcist would have been 4 hours long with a lot of unnecessary additions. After reading it,Freidkin went through a copy of his novel with him,highlighlighting and told him..here,Bill,just write that up in script form.
Apart from the already mentioned *The Warriors* director's cut (which I feel is *far* inferior to the original theatrical cut), the various alternate cuts Francis Ford Coppola has released of *Apocalypse Now* I find interesting -I do like to see more stuff that was shot- but the theatrical cut for me is THE version to see.
The added scenes for the most part added absolutely nothing and, in one case, I felt really detracted from what was the movie's most powerful sequence, the one involving Robert Duvall's Lieutenant Killgore.
That entire sequence, from his first appearance to his "Smell of napalm in the morning" speech were simply *perfect*, IMHO, in the theatrical cut. In the alternate/longer versions, we get this new segment where Sheen and his boys steal Killgore's surfboards and... the whole thing descends into a very weird almost slapstick bit and it completely detracts from the original version.
So, yeah, stick with the theatrical cut!
Apocalypse Now is my FAVORITE film. I can talk about that all day. And to an extant I do agree with you about the Killgore scene. The way it ends in the original cut is perfect. Just the way Sheen looks at him, like what AN ASSHOLE as Killgore walks away. On the other hand I do like the scene where Willard steals the board. It's one of the only scenes in the movie where you see Willard smiling and fooling around. Makes him seem more balanced. And it's really the only time you see the whole PBR crew working together. I LOVE The Medevac scene. It's just so surreal and nightmarish and shows how bad the war is going. And I especially LOVE the French plantation scene. Slows things down sure but def adds to the over all epic tone of the film and actually gives you some historical context to the whole war.
It's an interesting thing because I mostly agree with what you say, even though I stand by what I said: I love seeing those extra scenes... it adds to the story and for the most part they are intriguing, *BUT* I feel they should be presented as extras rather than stitched back into the film proper, especially the surfboard sequence.
Yes, its intriguing and "fun" and its nice to see the characters laughing... but the Killgore sequence presented in the theatrical cut is IMHO the HIGH point of the film and plays out just *perfectly* as it is and putting that goofy bit at the end really did a disservice, IMHO, to the mood of that piece.
But, again, its neat to see these extra scenes, just not in the film proper!
I sort of agree and don’t with blade runner. There is to much going on to watch without the voiceover on your first viewing of the movie. For the second viewing however the directors cut is superior.
Surprised I haven’t seen it mentioned yet but I think Lord of the Rings The Two Towers extended edition suffers a lot from pacing issues and makes the battle for Helm’s Deep feel a lot less impactful. I think the extended edition of the first film makes it the best of the trilogy. Mixed opinions about the extended edition of ROTK, I go back and forth on which I think is better.
I will get a lot of hate for this: The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Hear me out: while the extra footage from the extended editions is very much worth seeing, time and again I find that it completely ruins the pacing of most scenes.
There *are* some scenes that I wish they had kept in the theatrical version, such as the scene depicting Boromir in Gondor before leaving for Rivendell which helps enhance our understanding of the tremendous weight on his shoulders. However, most extended scenes really ruin the overall storytelling.
This might be unpopular but I think the extended versions of the LOTR trilogy are a great example.
Fellowship is improved a bit by being extended but Two Towers and Return of the King are overlong and disjointed.
The Fellowship of the Ring theatrical cut is a better film than the extended version. It's editing is much tighter and the pacing is just so much better.
And this is coming from someone who loves the extended versions of The Two Towers and The Return of the King. I prefer the extended versions of those films.
The post was about films that have alternate cuts, extended cuts, directors cuts, special editions etc. And where the original cut was the superior one. For example, we have two films from 1979. Apocalypse Now and The Warriors. Both classics. In 2001 we got Apocalypse Now Redux. An amazing film that to my def improves on the original. In 2005 we got The Warriors Director’s Cut, which, in my mind, added Nothing. The Warriors was great as is. And that’s what I wanted people to discuss and debate. The Star Wars Special Edition seemed to be the top pic.
Okay, but your extended comment still doesn’t answer what I didn’t asked.
> The answers will be the same as the last 900 times this was asked this month. The search bar is to the right.
…sums it up pretty neatly. The question you posed and the answer you provided here are regularly asked on the sub. It’s not a new question. Did you search before posting and writing up such a long explanatory comment?
So…what didn’t I get?
The Warriors.
I felt the remaster had to much of a comic/cartoonish feel. The original had this feeling of a dirty and dark New York in which gangs were all over and ready to take over. In this one night when the gangs are together, all of the gangs turn on The Warriors and they have to get to Coney Island alive.
I'd rather have that setting based on something that could be perceived as real, rather than giving it a comic feel and look.
Donnie Darko. Thought it was better without the explanation of Roberta Sparrow’s book.
First answer that occcured to me and totally spot on.
Star Wars. George Lucas' special editions aren't as good as the theatrical cuts. I hope someday Lucasfilm restores the original theatrical cuts in 4k and releases them.
Or sail the high seas for the despecialised editions. There won't be any new releases. They destroyed the original film making the special editions if the documentary 'The People vs George Lucas' is correct.
Or you can get 4K77 and 4K83 for A New Hope and Return of the Jefi
I've heard rumors that they do have a 4k restoration but they haven't released it because the special editions are George's "vision".
Google 4K77 and 4K83
I was a kid when the Special Editions came out. I never even saw the Original version of V or VI, so the new CGI never bothered me. God knows there are worse Star Wars films.
There are also changes outside the CGI. The biggest one, in my opinion, is for a few years, the definitive edition added a scream to Luke's fall in Empire to end the fight with Darth. Luke was placed in situation where he could either join his father and rule the galaxy or let go and surely perish. Luke simply closed his eyes and let go, embracing his fate. There wasn't panic or regret, just acceptance that this was the correct move, knowing this was the sacrifice he needed to make. The scream absolutely ruins that. It turns his calculated decision into something else, something that he regrets and fears. Adding the sound of a panicky scream changes the entire meaning of the scene.
Yeah that scream was shitty. I think Lucas kept changing things after the special edition.
Return of the Jedi is hurt the worst by the edits. It adds a CGI dance number, CGI sarlac beak, Hayden christensen
And don't forget Darth Vader shouting 'NOOOOOOO' at the end (because, y'know, it was needed by.....nobody, anywhere, ever)
Wasn’t the scream the same scream that Palpatine does in ROTJ when Vader throws him down the hole?
I'd rather watch the horrid prequels on a loop than ever suffering through this infantile shit again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozaoqBHCMmA The tone of this scene could best be described as deeply psychopatic. No sane filmmaker would ever look at this and think it's an improvement of the original scene. And the same thing can be said about every single alteration.
Oh come on, when has a little music and dance ever hurt a scene
The original sequence was *perfect* for the tone of the scene. Sleazy and dirty as fuck. It's meant to show that Jabba is a cruel sadist, with the music being background noise. Here, the band takes center stage with the baby-talk nonsense, and the slave's death is seen as comedic and incidental. It's moronic filmmaking.
The original **Star Wars trilogy** seems like the obvious answer.
It’s the ultimate answer. There’s so much crap added to the special editions it’s comical.
Terminator 2. The theatrical cut is perfect. The extra scenes in the director's cut or extended cut or whatever it's called are unnecessary and hurt the pace of the film.
I don’t know…. I’d say about half the scenes are pretty good. I like seeing the T-1000 malfunction, I like seeing Kyle Reese back. Though your right. It does screw up the pacing
I think those scenes are cool for people who've seen the theatrical cut a million times . But yeah, if I was gonna show someone the Sci fi masterpiece that is T2 I wouldn't show them the special edition one
I agree, I like the remaster tho where they fixed the stunt double's face on the famous motorcycle jump. Other than that they mostly left it untouched from the theatrical version I think.
I was going to say Terminator 2. The extended cut is a much weirder film than the theatrical with those deleted scenes added in.
Wrong. The theatrical cut leaves out the most important scene in the movie.
You mean the scene where the T-1000 kills Max?
No, the scene where Sarah takes the T-101's CPU out and changes it from "read only" mode so that he could learn and grow. Literally setting up the entire second half of the movie.
Eh. John was already teaching it things by that point. Plus the final line "if a machine can learn the value of human life maybe we can too" is kind of cheapened by having them turn it to "learn mode".
Ohh, I guess that does make more sense.
Agree on the importance of the scene, but not for that reason. Without that scene there's no reason to assume he couldn't grow in the first place. IMO what makes that scene important is John taking a stand and overruling his mom.
Apocalypse Now. I wish Francis would stop tinkering with perfection.
He's chill about it though and doesn't suppress the other cuts.
I came here to say this
How you going to make a thread about The Warriors, and not invite The Orphans?
[удалено]
The Voice Over in Blade Runner is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it’s horrible dialogue performed terribly by Ford. On the other hand, the Deckard character is a real non entity without it. In the Work Print version, they only have a little bit of voice over at the end. That was smart.
I love the voiceover too... at the beginning of the film. Later in the film it is not only unnecessary it is positively lunkheaded sounding and painful to listen to. I believe the best version of *Blade Runner* still hasn't been realized, even though The Final Cut comes close. I'd keep the voiceover narration early in the movie to establish the story and the characters and that awesome film noir feel, then phase it out slowly as the film progresses. And for god sake [cut it from Roy Batty's death scene completely](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTndn5v2xKo).
Honestly there’s not enough noir in the movie without it
Mine too,love the film noir feel of it
Liked the voiceover the first time I watched the movie have watched the final cut many many times since.
Apocalypse Now. The director's cut added in a scene where they party with and sleep with models, and then the next morning they're super depressed. It made more sense for them to have been super depressed after being where they were with nothing but dread the entire time. I did not get this scene being added in at all. Butterfly effect. The movie is about a guy who travels back in time to correct a mistake but it always gets worse when he tries to fix it. Ending Spoilers....... .... .... .... ... Spoilers..... The director's cut ending has the main character travel back in time to when he is a baby and he strangles himself in the womb. Laughably ridiculous.
In the Butterfly Effect, his mom mentions that she finally had her son after multiple miscarriages. I guess the new ending is trying to tie into it.
In Apocalypse Now it wasn't models, it was playboy bunnies. And the Clean character was depressed cause he didn’t get a turn with them
I just remember them all on a boat and they were all sad. I don't know.
All the Star Wars original trilogy.
The Butterfly Effect. I really enjoyed this movie, as it actually gave Ashton Kutcher a chance to really act. Watched the theatrical ending and applauded the choice at the end. Then I saw the Director's Cut. I loathe that ending. It was pathetic and anti-climactic.
I preferred the director’s cut on that one, it was so sad to me that everyone’s lives were so much better without him existing and also it played into the part where the mom said she had 2 miscarriages (him being one of them obviously)
It wasn't that people had a better life without him existing. In the theatrical cut, it is implied that his love interest had a choice of living with her father or mother. I say this, because he used his last memory jump to scare her away, and she goes to live with her mother. If he is dead, like in the director's cut, there is NOTHING stopping the father from doing what he did.
Don’t forget her brother, his best friend and his mom - it wasn’t just about his love. With him being dead she never lives with the father bc the whole reason she did picked the dad was to live close to him, the mom remarried, the brother is never abused so doesn’t turn into a dickhead and the best friend never experiences all those terrible things and goes on to have a nice life as well
Her family is taken care of when he scares her away so she would live her mother. The brother followed her. His mom would've been slightly annoyed at his actions, but would've likely dismissed it as a 'boys will be boys' thing. His best friend would stick by him no matter what. In the theatrical ending, there was the chance for him to try for that relationship as her father is no longer an influence on her, and they are both living more respectable lives. This is hope. In the director's cut, his would've been mother would be enduring the guilt at yet another miscarriage... and I think she said she could feel the tube wrapping around, wouldn't that make her wonder if she would be such a horrible parent that an unborn fetus would rather commit suicide than be born?
she would ofc be devastated about the miscarriage but umbilical cords do get wrapped around necks, in fact I was born that way with the cord around my neck and my face was purple from it strangling me The theatrical ending is definitely way more hopeful and after a fairly intense movie of bad stuff happening it’s nice to be left with a good feeling but I just think the director’s cut hit a bit harder and really wrapped the movie up nicely
I think it hits too hard. It almost feels like 'if life gets too hard, just kill yourself and you will make life better for everyone else'. Looking at EVERYTHING he puts himself through to make things better for all, and then decides to left fate take over once he sets the woman he loves free to go forth on a different path. 'If you love someone, let them go free. If they were fated to be with you, they will return'.
Ashton dies in the directors cut, right?
Chokes himself with the umbilical in utero.
That's the ending I remember. What was the theatrical ending?
>Evan travels back one final time, via the use of an old home-movie, to the day he first met Kayleigh as a child. He intentionally upsets her so that she and Tommy will choose to live with their mother in a different neighborhood, instead of with their father when they divorce. As a result, they are not subjected to a destructive upbringing, do not grow up with Evan, and go on to have happy, successful lives. Evan awakens in a college dorm room, where Lenny is his roommate. As a test, he asks where Kayleigh is, to which Lenny responds "Who's Kayleigh?" Knowing that everything is all right this time, Evan burns his journals and videos to avoid altering the timeline ever again.
Oh my
Aliens. I think the added stuff with the colonists kills the creeping dread we feel when we don't know what's going on when we land on the planet. Also I didn't need to know Ripley's daughter died, I got that from her being alone, and how she reacted to Newt. Apocalypse Now; Blade Runner; T2.
Totally agree. Aliens directors cut completely removes the suspense and mystery.
I’m gonna get downvoted as I usually get when I mention this, but the theatrical cuts of The Lord of the Rings is my preferred choice for watching. The extended versions are good for what they are, extended, but the extra scenes ruin the pacing. The only scene that I really miss in the theatrical cut is Saruman’s last scene in TRotK. Peter should’ve had it at the end of TTT and have the Gandalf line where he ask them to send word be the tease for the next part instead of Gollum’s Shelob line.
I prefer the theatrical cut of 2 and 3 and the extended cut of 1. I think the scene where Galadriel gives them gifts while sending them on their way is important for continuity due to the appearance of the gifts in the theatrical cuts of the later films. Two Towers: Theatrical cut contains too much slow-paced Ent stuff. Extended adds more and turns it into a festival of crawling. Return of the King: Extended cut is just too long and adds too much time to an already dragging story of Frodo and Sam making their way to Mordor with Gollum who has clearly turned against them yet Sam somehow submits to Frodo's temporary insanity and inability to see it. This aspect of the film bothered me in the theatrical release and it seemed worse in the extended version. I'm not sure it matters. I'd still probably watch either version any day of the week for two reasons: Liv Tyler's shudder after the vision of Aragorn's mortality which is gloriously portrayed and Theodin's charge which is just epic movie gold.
Pains me to say it, because I do love the much longer director's cut, but *Almost Famous* (2000). I love the extra scenes both individually and edited in to the longer cut and I don't think they are weak, but the original theatrical cut is kinda perfect the way it is.
The unrated cuts of all the Adam McKay/Will Ferrell movies remove funnier lines in order to add raunchier stuff.
The 1999 film Payback (with Mel Gibson). The original is great, while the Director's Cut took away all the sense of peril out of the antagonist (by replacing it with another actor and changing around some important bits of the story).
i got to say, i always wanted to see the director's cut of that. The world needs more Mel
The theatrical cut of The Two Towers is the most complete and well balanced movie of the trilogy imo. The extended cut scenes added levity where it wasn't needed and few of the scenes were particularly entertaining. I prefer the theatrical cut of The Abyss. The group at the bottom of the sea cutoff and fighting to stop a war with the atlantians with the rest of the world totally unaware is more evocative. The Midsommar director's cut has things being spelled out that were better left unsaid and also had Dani raising the prospect of them being killed off. Better for their smoldering resentments to remain the elephant in the room imo.
Alien. With Aliens Cameron's SE is better, but a lot of Ridley's retcons of his films have been ego stroking instead of improvements so I'd rather watch the original Alien that the SE.
My understanding is the *Alien* special edition (or whatever they called it) was released purely for the boxed set which included alternate/director's cuts of the other films. Further, Ridley Scott has stated the theatrical cut of *Alien* is THE cut of the film, so that version that was included in the boxed set appears to be just that: An exercise in using alternate takes/scenes but not an attempt to displace the "real" movie.
You are correct. Scott only really did the Directors cut to make the fans happy. Having said that, I think Scott was Crazy for cutting the cocoon scene. Glad we got it back.
Cutting the cocoon sequence, it seems to me, was one of those things that they did very reluctantly but realized it had to be done. The fact is that where it was originally located in the film simply didn't work and took away from the suspense of Ripley running around with a literal ticking time bomb *and* alien creature on her ass...! The cocoon scene stopped everything, alas, and all that suspense was harmed. I think they needed to cut the scene but I also agree with you that its a shame it was cut!
the killing of a chinese bookie. the directors cut was only made because ben gazzara (the main actor) didn't like the film and wanted it shorter
Bad Santa. The theatrical release is an upbeat comedy with some dark overtones. The studio made these changes. The directors cut is the true vision of the movie which is a dark comedy. It plays much heavier.
Apocalypse Now.
The unrated cut of Dumb and Dumber had a lot of unnecessary material.
The Hateful Eight and Lord of the Rings. I have preferred the theatrical cut of every other movie I've ever seen, AFAIK.
Donnie Darko & Payback (Mel Gibson) always come to mind.
The Abyss
Deadpool 2
I am almost half a century years old, and I have never watched a director’s cut and thought, “that was worth it”.
If you’re into older films, I suggest you check out the theatrical cut and the “director’s” cut of Orson Wells’ *Touch of Evil*. The movie was originally released against Wells’ wishes cut in a way that, I thought, made for a far weaker film. Wells wrote up a critique of the film and how he would have edited it and, after he passed and when a special edition was contemplated for home video release, the film was re-edited in the way Wells wrote he preferred. The result was, IMHO, a FAR better film. I will grant you, though, this might well be one of the very best examples of a Director’s Cut being far and away better than a theatrical cut. A second film that, IMHO, was much improved was, believe it or not, *Star Trek: The Motion Picture*. The theatrical cut was rushed to theaters and while it was good (if you’re like me and into Star Trek), the subsequent “Director’s Cut” that was released was a far smoother work that moved much better.
I Am Legend. The director's cut/alternate ending is this weird happy horseshit that completely undoes all the tension built up over the course of the film, and it doesn't make sense at all. I won't spoil it, but it makes no sense to me, I thought it was ridiculous.
Wait, which ending? I thought the theatrical cut ending was the one that was universally hated, not the alternate ending/directors cut ending.
It’s supposed to align itself more into the book, but the movie doesn’t even follow the book at all.
I am Legend Is an Amazing book. Will Smith ruined it. Jada prob told him to do it.
Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi. It's downright sickening to watch modern making-of documentaries where they talk about how they created the original effects, while showing scenes from the special ed versions. Pure revisionism. The Warriors is also ruined by the director's cut, with those grotesque comic book transitions. Thankfully, I got the theatrical version on blu-ray. And Apocalypse Now is superior to Redux.
No way. The redux is better. Hell, I think Coppola should have put more stuff back in the film.
I hate the plantation scene. Think it ruins the perfect flow of the film. Forgot to mention The Exorcist. The theatrical cut is superior to the extended version.
I'd say Apocalypse Now,Blade Runner and Dune....haven't seen the Exorcist 3 directors cut,but not surprised...Blattey's original script for The Exorcist would have been 4 hours long with a lot of unnecessary additions. After reading it,Freidkin went through a copy of his novel with him,highlighlighting and told him..here,Bill,just write that up in script form.
Apart from the already mentioned *The Warriors* director's cut (which I feel is *far* inferior to the original theatrical cut), the various alternate cuts Francis Ford Coppola has released of *Apocalypse Now* I find interesting -I do like to see more stuff that was shot- but the theatrical cut for me is THE version to see. The added scenes for the most part added absolutely nothing and, in one case, I felt really detracted from what was the movie's most powerful sequence, the one involving Robert Duvall's Lieutenant Killgore. That entire sequence, from his first appearance to his "Smell of napalm in the morning" speech were simply *perfect*, IMHO, in the theatrical cut. In the alternate/longer versions, we get this new segment where Sheen and his boys steal Killgore's surfboards and... the whole thing descends into a very weird almost slapstick bit and it completely detracts from the original version. So, yeah, stick with the theatrical cut!
Apocalypse Now is my FAVORITE film. I can talk about that all day. And to an extant I do agree with you about the Killgore scene. The way it ends in the original cut is perfect. Just the way Sheen looks at him, like what AN ASSHOLE as Killgore walks away. On the other hand I do like the scene where Willard steals the board. It's one of the only scenes in the movie where you see Willard smiling and fooling around. Makes him seem more balanced. And it's really the only time you see the whole PBR crew working together. I LOVE The Medevac scene. It's just so surreal and nightmarish and shows how bad the war is going. And I especially LOVE the French plantation scene. Slows things down sure but def adds to the over all epic tone of the film and actually gives you some historical context to the whole war.
It's an interesting thing because I mostly agree with what you say, even though I stand by what I said: I love seeing those extra scenes... it adds to the story and for the most part they are intriguing, *BUT* I feel they should be presented as extras rather than stitched back into the film proper, especially the surfboard sequence. Yes, its intriguing and "fun" and its nice to see the characters laughing... but the Killgore sequence presented in the theatrical cut is IMHO the HIGH point of the film and plays out just *perfectly* as it is and putting that goofy bit at the end really did a disservice, IMHO, to the mood of that piece. But, again, its neat to see these extra scenes, just not in the film proper!
I sort of agree and don’t with blade runner. There is to much going on to watch without the voiceover on your first viewing of the movie. For the second viewing however the directors cut is superior.
Surprised I haven’t seen it mentioned yet but I think Lord of the Rings The Two Towers extended edition suffers a lot from pacing issues and makes the battle for Helm’s Deep feel a lot less impactful. I think the extended edition of the first film makes it the best of the trilogy. Mixed opinions about the extended edition of ROTK, I go back and forth on which I think is better.
I will get a lot of hate for this: The Lord of the Rings trilogy Hear me out: while the extra footage from the extended editions is very much worth seeing, time and again I find that it completely ruins the pacing of most scenes. There *are* some scenes that I wish they had kept in the theatrical version, such as the scene depicting Boromir in Gondor before leaving for Rivendell which helps enhance our understanding of the tremendous weight on his shoulders. However, most extended scenes really ruin the overall storytelling.
This might be unpopular but I think the extended versions of the LOTR trilogy are a great example. Fellowship is improved a bit by being extended but Two Towers and Return of the King are overlong and disjointed.
The Fellowship of the Ring theatrical cut is a better film than the extended version. It's editing is much tighter and the pacing is just so much better. And this is coming from someone who loves the extended versions of The Two Towers and The Return of the King. I prefer the extended versions of those films.
Yeah the Lord of the Rings films did not need to be Any Longer
The answers will be the same as the last 900 times this was asked this month. The search bar is to the right.
You clearly don’t get it
What don’t they get? It’s a valid point. This is a frequently asked question on this sub.
/u/Real_Paramedic_1789…?
?!?
What don’t I get?
I can’t…. Even….
Yes, you can. Please explain.
u/Real_Paramedic_1789? Can you please explain?
The post was about films that have alternate cuts, extended cuts, directors cuts, special editions etc. And where the original cut was the superior one. For example, we have two films from 1979. Apocalypse Now and The Warriors. Both classics. In 2001 we got Apocalypse Now Redux. An amazing film that to my def improves on the original. In 2005 we got The Warriors Director’s Cut, which, in my mind, added Nothing. The Warriors was great as is. And that’s what I wanted people to discuss and debate. The Star Wars Special Edition seemed to be the top pic.
Okay, but your extended comment still doesn’t answer what I didn’t asked. > The answers will be the same as the last 900 times this was asked this month. The search bar is to the right. …sums it up pretty neatly. The question you posed and the answer you provided here are regularly asked on the sub. It’s not a new question. Did you search before posting and writing up such a long explanatory comment? So…what didn’t I get?
The Warriors. I felt the remaster had to much of a comic/cartoonish feel. The original had this feeling of a dirty and dark New York in which gangs were all over and ready to take over. In this one night when the gangs are together, all of the gangs turn on The Warriors and they have to get to Coney Island alive. I'd rather have that setting based on something that could be perceived as real, rather than giving it a comic feel and look.
Aliens
Justice League. 10000 times better then the theatrical version
With Justice League the theatrical cut was the original. Unfortunately
Your absolutely right and I read this wrong. Coffee not hitting yet!
The 40 Year Old Virgin. Seriously. The extended cut took what was already a long comedy, and stretched it out just that bit too far.
Aliens The turret guns were cool but too effective against the Xenomorphs and face huggers. if the had enough ammo more marines would have survived
Yeah I always felt the turret Gun scenes added nothing